Before a pre-reader learns how to read, she learns about reading. For example, when a baby hears a story and simultaneously sees pictures which are pointed to by the reader, she is learning about reading. Similarly, an infant follows the words while viewing the pictures in her favorite books and enjoys doing so time and time again. She gains security from hearing the story repeated while learning about reading. Naming the objects in pictures over and over again helps the pre-reader to understand the concept that objects have names and, in turn, that words have meanings. Very early on, pre-readers learn to play-read the actual words before they are able to relate to or read the printed words. Play-reading with the reader is accomplished with the pre-reader memorizing the spoken text in association with viewing the objects in a picture. Repetitive text in picture books facilitates and encourages this memorization. As a reader points to a word and pronounces the word in relation to an object in a picture, the pre-reader begins to develop a correlation between what is said and the printed word. In addition, left to right reading orientation is recognized by the pre-reader. A pre-reader can then be assisted in pointing to each word as the word is spoken. Thereafter, the pre-reader becomes adept at pointing to each word and play reading the word which she has memorized. The pre-reader begins to understand the concept of associating the spoken word with the printed word. Providing a repetition of words on every page of a book allows the pre-reader to practice the sight/sound correlation of words while building the confidence required for the pre-reader to master the skill of reading. The pre-reader learns that she can hear and memorize the same words on every page and then learns that she can see the same words on every page. The association of the spoken word with the printed word is developed.
Traditional reading books at the pre-reader level provide repetitive language and related pictures to facilitate the process of learning to read. However, the pictures and associated text are impersonal. The pre-reader seldom has an experience, reference or connection to the text or pictures of the traditional book to which she can personally relate. The memorization process is thus slow for the pre-reader who must hear the words read over and over again in relation to the pictures before she can begin to remember the text and associate the text with the pictures.
While personal photographic books provide a personal reference or connection to the pre-reader, traditional photo albums do not provide the repetitive language required for teaching a pre-reader about reading and how to read. The photographs may be personal to the pre-reader but without repetitive language, the books are merely a picture book with no means to facilitate the learning process of reading to a pre-reader.